Austria and South Africa during apartheid The set-up of ... - SADOCC

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Anti-apartheid activity in the European Community and selected West European countries 633 The brutal repression of the Soweto student revolt from 16 June 1976, reported by the Austrian media, created a rallying point for a wide range of people who were shocked by the attitude of the Pretoria government. Only a few had been involved in solidarity activities with South Africa, either in the framework of the Programme to Combat Racism of the World Council of Churches (WCC) or in activities organised by the Austrian Peace Council. 17 Others came from Social Democratic, Catholic and Liberal backgrounds. In October 1976, the well-known journalist Adalbert Krims registered the AAM in Austria with the authorities, and a few months later, in May 1977, the first annual general meeting took place in Vienna. 18 Furthermore, some African students (whose number in Vienna at that time was rather limited) participated in AAM’s activities, including Thandi Malepe from South Africa, Peter Julian Jjumba from Uganda, Sintayehu Tsehay from Ethiopia and Joe Kojo Taylor from Ghana. Contacts with the African National Congress (ANC) were immediately established. Despite good beginnings, it proved difficult for the newly created platform to maintain the debate on apartheid on the Austrian political agenda. After the much-reported meeting between South Africa’s prime minister John Balthazar Vorster and US vicepresident Walter Mondale in Vienna in May 1977 – marked by the first demonstration by the young organisation – post-Soweto media interest faded away, and even likeminded political parties did not concentrate much on solidarity activities. South Africa’s propaganda machinery remained dominant, and the first public meeting of the AAM – a lecture by Anthony Mongalo from the ANC at the University of Vienna – was almost disrupted by a group of right-wing, pro-Rhodesian students. Efforts to make the Austrian public aware of the situation in South Africa, of the progress made by the liberation movements, and of the ongoing collaboration with apartheid and colonialism in southern Africa were therefore a priority. Apart from a number of information meetings, a symposium on economic collaboration and racist propaganda was organised jointly with the Austrian UNESCO Commission, and addressed by representatives of the UN and the liberation movements of Zimbabwe and South Africa. Also in 1977, the anti-apartheid movement published an information bulletin, which later developed into a respected magazine on southern Africa and continues to appear under the new name of Indaba. After some lobbying, an official ordinance by the Ministry of Education and Arts was secured that rejected the regular sending of South African propaganda material to schools and its use in educational activities: a first success against Pretoria’s information dominance. Obtaining accurate information on developments in South Africa remained difficult, given the lack of interest by most of the media. Furthermore, South Africans in Austria mostly came from the apartheid camp. Practically no Austrians in South Africa were able or willing to provide meaningful information, and even academic research was largely influenced by official South African publications. Personal 17 An affiliate of the World Peace Council, which operated independently of, but in close co-operation with the Austrian Communist Party. 18 Peter Fleissner was elected first chair. The leadership included Ingrid Gaisrucker, Margit Niederhuber, Elfriede Pekny, Helmuth Rheindorf, Walter Stach, Ulrich Trinks, Klaus Wiesmüller and others – all with different political orientations and professional experience. Road to democracy Vol3 P1_5-8.indd 633 31/03/2008 7:36:32
634 The Road to Democracy in South Africa, Volume 3, International Solidarity, Part I exchanges with representatives of the liberation movements were rarely possible. 19 The UN and its efficient information service in Vienna provided some background information. Important support in terms of information and publications came from the fraternal British and Dutch anti-apartheid organisations, with which close links were established. In addition, wide-ranging co-operation developed with the International Defence and Aid Fund (IDAF) in London, led by Canon John Collins and later by Horst Kleinschmidt, a South African exile who was one of the first speakers in AAM meetings and later facilitated communication with the ANC. 20 At the time, the liberation movements had not fully established an office network in Europe. In the late 1970s, the nearest ANC office to Austria was located in London and the nearest SWAPO contact in Oslo. Only some years later were both organisations able to establish offices in Bonn. In 1981, at a meeting with ANC president Oliver Tambo, the Austrian chancellor Bruno Kreisky invited the ANC to open an office in Vienna similar to the one operated by the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). 21 The invitation was not taken up. The AAM’s first fund-raising campaign was started in December 1979, in support of the Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College in Mazimbu, Tanzania, after a request by the ANC leadership. Over the years, it was possible to raise support from a number of trade union, church and women’s organisations. In 1985 the Austrian AAM was able to finance the purchase of cattle in order to secure Mazimbu’s supply of dairy products. At the same time, the AAM mobilised official funds for Mazimbu, amounting to about 10m Austrian shillings (ATS) (close to €730 000 in today’s currency). Also in the mid 1980s, government funding for a similar cattle scheme at SWAPO’s Namayami farm in Zambia was secured, amounting to another ATS2 m. Given the tough resistance continuously displayed by Conservative circles against government support to ‘terrorist movements’, both projects were remarkable achievements. Increasingly, the issue of South African and Namibian political prisoners became prominent in the activities of the AAM. In 1977 the regime in Pretoria had crushed the organisations of the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM), and on 12 September Steve Biko was brutally murdered in prison. A petition calling for the release of all political prisoners in South Africa was circulated by the AAM and submitted to the Austrian government, as well as to the UN Special Committee against Apartheid by the Austrian ambassador to the UN, Peter Jankowitsch. Joint activities took place with Amnesty International (Austrian Section) and the Young Catholic Workers, who campaigned for the release of detained activists of the Christian Workers Youth Movement in South Africa. In 1980, following similar activities in South Africa, a nationwide signature campaign was started, calling for the release of ANC leader Nelson Mandela – then still on Robben Island. 19 Meetings were held, however, with Albie Sachs, Thomas Nkobi and Tony Seedat of the ANC, and Hadino Hishongwa, Nghidimondjila Shoombe and Sam Nujoma of SWAPO. 20 For the role of IDAF, see Denis Herbstein, White Lies: Canon Collins and the Secret War Against Apartheid (Cape Town and Oxford: Zed Books, 2004). 21 This was suggested earlier by Konrad Ginther, Überlegungen zur Anerkennungsproblematik im Südlichen Afrika, in: Jahrbuch für Internationales Recht 23, Berlin, 1980, 323-352. Road to democracy Vol3 P1_5-8.indd 634 31/03/2008 7:36:32
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